Additional criteria may also apply if you are registering interest in community housing.

You are not eligible for public housing if you have previously been excluded from public housing due to disruptive behaviour.

If you have a debt with Housing SA, you must make an arrangement to repay it and keep the arrangement before you can be offered public housing.

Multiple household groups

If your household has more than one household group - eg a couple with a child and an elderly parent who is financially independent, both households must meet the basic eligibility criteria or have needs or special circumstances.

How to register interest

Housing SA will become your primary contact organisation for all enquiries relating to your registration.

You can choose to register for just public housing or both public and community housing at the same time. This does not include registering your interest in Volunteer Member-Tenant Managed (VMTM) organisations (previously know as Housing Co-operatives).

If you are of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, you can choose to register for general public housing or the Aboriginal rental housing program.

If you are registering interest in community housing only, you can identify your preferred community housing provider. It will become your primary contact organisation for all enquiries relating to your registration. Once registered with your primary contact organisation, other community housing providers with houses in areas you have identified may also contact you.

To register:

Contact your preferred community housing provider to discuss your needs and to get help completing a registration of interest form. (Forms for community housing only are only available directly from community housing providers. To register for public and community housing see the section above).

Return your signed form and supporting documents to your chosen community housing provider.

Volunteer member-tenant managed housing is a type of community housing. The organisations are not-for-profit housing providers democratically managed by their members (who are usually tenants) in line with the International Cooperative Principles.

Member-tenants must actively participate, co-operate and communicate with other member-tenants to run their VMTM housing provider. This requires a significant commitment, up to 12 hours per week, depending on the role and activities required.

Member-tenants are responsible for all aspects of running and managing the VMTM housing provider. This includes making decisions about and carrying out functions related to:

What happens next

Your registration will be assessed and you will receive a letter telling you if your registration has been accepted or not. You may be asked to an interview to assess your need, or for VMTM registrations, to assess your suitability for membership with the VMTM provider based on your skills and abilities and what you can contribute to the management of the housing provider.

Households with highest needs are offered housing ahead of other households. You may not be offered a place to live if you have a moderate or lower housing need so you may want to consider other types of housing assistance available to you in that case.

Properties only become available when the current tenants move out. It’s not possible to predict:

If you are removed from someone else's registration

If you are removed from someone else's registration - eg due to separation - you can register under your own name and ask for consideration of the time your name was listed on the other registration. Discuss your situation with your primary contact organisation.